What's in Your Wardrobe?

Ikaneisha Jenkins

Posted on August 07 2017

After losing my home and every single piece of clothing that I worked so hard on collecting, I have had the pleasure and displeasure of having to rebuild my wardrobe. Being that I had no job, I had to wait until pieces were donated to me or until I was given money to do so. Apparently, I am smaller than most so people donated money to me and gift cards instead of donating pieces lol, which was fine because retail therapy is the ultimate healer right?

When it came time to start shopping, I had to think about what I really needed instead of what I wanted which brings me to the topic of this post: Wardrobe Must Haves or StaplePieces!

I polled quite a few other bloggers nationally and internationally and here are the top 5 items that they stated were their MUST HAVES.

Little Black Dress (LBD)

Dark denim jeans/Black jeans

Blazer

Denim Jacket

White button up/White Tee

There were quite bit of answers that I received but these were the most popular. It was interesting to see all of the different staple pieces from different women all over the world. Something that I found extremely interesting after tallying up the results was that the Top 5 answers, were MY TOP 5 ANSWERS!

So, let's dig into this list!

The LBD

This is the TOP MUST HAVE, period! And the fact that I had women from several different countries as well as the USA have this on their list shows that we women have that same sexy feeling in our own LBD! The LBD is timeless, sexy, slimming and versatile. Who doesn't love a good GNO or date night in their own LBD? As much as I love this staple piece, when it came to replacing my wardrobe, this was not high on my priority list since I had absolutely NO clothes lol. A LBD would look kinda silly as I was handling business with losing my home lol at least I would turn heads though, right?

Dark Jeans/Black Jeans

Other than shoes, denim is my obsession! At one point, I owned over 115 pairs of jeans! I love all kinds of jeans: ripped, skinny, bootcut, light, dark, colored, high waisted, rhinestones, you name it, I had it lol. Dark denim jeans will always be my go to. Why? Because dark denim jeans are versatile! You could throw on a blazer, button up and dark denim and go to work then straight out to eat after work without skipping a beat! Dark denim slims you depending on the fit, they will accentuate your curves. Dark denim looks great with ANY color top/shoes. Put on your favorite top with a pair of light denim jeans. Go on.....how do you look? Okay, now change into a pair of dark denim jeans with the same top. Look at the difference! Lighter denim tends to draw the eye and show more imperfections but dark denim accentuates!

Blazer

This was one of the first things I bought after buying jeans and everyday tops. A good blazer makes ANY outfit complete. A blazer brings the Miranda Priestly out of me. I feel like a boss in my blazer, no matter the color! Just like the aforementioned pieces, blazers are versatile. Pair it with a some cute bermuda shorts, denim skirt, jeans or even a dress and watch how many compliments you receive! Trending right now are short sets which is one of my favorites because of the matching blazers. How many blazers do you own? Because of my church, I was able to get 6 in my wardrobe and my favorite one is from a Goodwill in TN that had $95 tags on it and I bought it for a whopping $3! I normally have trouble with jackets/blazers and coats because my arms are abnormally long. Great for my grade school basketball career but horrible for clothing lol so I was shocked that I was able to find so many that fit me!

Denim Jacket

This is similar to the blazer but not! Blazers are more boss chick to me whereas denim jackets are more of the fashionable pairing to an item that "regular" dressers wouldn't normally think to wear it with. Not saying that a boss can't wear a denim jacket because of course they do, this is just more of a dressed down fashion compared to the blazer. There are so many different types of denim jackets. Right before my home burned down, I had just purchased a dark denim fitted blazer that I paired with some coral pants and and a graffiti tee. It was DOPE! I have yet to find another denim blazer that fit like that one. This is one of those items that is fun to play with when it comes to pairing and turning an old outfit into something fresh. If you are bored one day, grab a denim jacket from your closet and begin trying it on with different pieces. I guarantee you will find a jewel in there that will become your new favorite outfit!

White button up/tee

Last but not least, the white button up and white tee! Of course we know that white goes with everything. It is the universal color so it is no wonder that the bread and butter of wardrobes is the white button up/white tee. These 2 versatile pieces can be dressed up, dressed down, worn on a date, worn on an interview, worn to a wedding, worn around the house and the list goes on! Nothing else needs to be said about this piece. I mean, we all get it, right?

Even though losing all of my clothing was devastating, we aren't even gonna get into the shoes I lost, it has been fun rebuilding my wardrobe and being smart about what I buy now since I have to prioritize. What is even more amazing about these versatile pieces in this list is that they can be combined together to make one amazing outfit that doesn't seem basic especially when completed with the right jewelry and shoes! A black blazer, dark skinny jeans, white button up with red pumps and a clutch, DOPE! Replace the blazer with a denim jacket, STILL DOPE! I cannot wait to keep adding on to my collection and using these must have pieces!

Need any of the items mentioned? Check out a few pieces offered here at Jenks Fashionique!

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